Just what the Doc ordered: an historic perfect game

MIAMI // Stoic as always, Roy Halladay's expression never changed. Until the end, that is. Until there was history - a perfect game, the marquee performance of his All-Star career. The Philadelphia Phillies' ace threw the 20th perfect game in major league history, beating the Florida Marlins 1-0 on Saturday night. At 9.23pm, when he got pinch-hitter Ronny Paulino to hit a grounder to third for the 27th out, only then could Halladay bask in his moment - breaking into a big smile and disappearing in a joyous mob of teammates.

"It's never something that you think is possible," Halladay said. "Really, once I got the two outs, I felt like I had a chance." It was the second perfect game in the MLB this month, the unheralded Dallas Braden doing it for Oakland against Tampa Bay on May 9. It was also the first time in the modern era that there have been two in the same season. Halladay struck out 11, and was cheered by a crowd of 25,086 throughout much of the night. Another fan called later - Joe Biden, the US vice president, dialled up the Phillies' clubhouse to offer his congratulations.

There were a couple of standout plays behind the man they call "Doc" - shortstop Wilson Valdez went deep into the hole for a grounder, backup third baseman Juan Castro went to his knees for another and second baseman Chase Utley ranged well to his left for another fine play. "I think everybody knows you have to have those kind of plays to do something like that," Halladay said. * AP